Seattle Puts a Damper on Reign Man’s Return

Shawn Kemp was known as the Reign Man during his eight years with the Seattle SuperSonics.

But in his return to the city with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night, there were only boos raining down on Kemp in the SuperSonics’ 99-91 victory.

Gary Payton scored 28 points and had a decisive three-point play down the stretch as the SuperSonics maintained their position atop the Pacific Division standings.

Kemp, who scored 17 points and had seven rebounds, was booed from the time he was introduced. He was jeered every time he touched the ball.

“I tried to keep the tension out of my head and concentrate on winning the game,” Kemp said. “You can take the boos and try and use them as a positive.”

Kemp scored 16 of his points in the second half and had eight points in the fourth quarter. His 17-foot shot tied the score, 83-83, with 4:30 left.

Payton scored on a layup and made a free throw to give the SuperSonics a 92-85 lead with 2:17 left.

Vin Baker had 21 points and six rebounds, Dale Ellis had 17 points and Detlef Schrempf added 16 points and 10 rebounds for Seattle.

Rookie Cedric Henderson led the Cavaliers with 23 points.

Minnesota 113, Dallas 110--The Timberwolves rallied from a 24-point third-quarter deficit at Dallas and won their second overtime game in as many nights.

Terry Porter came off the bench to score seven points in overtime for the Timberwolves, who extended the longest winning streak in franchise history to five games.

Tom Gugliotta and Kevin Garnett scored 22 points each and Stephon Marbury added 20 for the Timberwolves.

The Mavericks lost their fifth game in a row and 20th in 21 games. They are 2-20 since Don Nelson took over as coach Dec. 4.

New Jersey 97, Atlanta 81--The Nets held the Hawks to a season-low 10 points in the third quarter at East Rutherford, N.J., and ended the Hawks’ six-game winning streak.

Keith Van Horn scored 23 points for the Nets. Kerry Kittles added 19, Sherman Douglas had 18 points and 10 assists and Jayson Williams had 15 points and 23 rebounds.

Steve Smith led the Hawks with 17 points, but his streak of scoring at least 20 points was stopped at eight games.

New York 93, Toronto 82--Charlie Ward scored a career-high 18 points as the Knicks used a 12-0 fourth-quarter run to beat the Raptors at Toronto.

Larry Johnson led the Knicks with 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Allan Houston added 23 points. But it was Ward, who made all five of his shots in the first half, including four three-pointers, who came up big when it counted.

Marcus Camby led the Raptors with 22 points. He added six rebounds and six blocks.

Utah 107, Orlando 93--Karl Malone of the Jazz scored 32 points at Salt Lake City and moved within five points of surpassing Dominique Wilkins (26,535) for seventh place on the NBA’s scoring list.

Malone scored 22 points in the second half after attempting only three shots in the first.

John Stockton added 21 points and 10 assists as the Jazz handed the Magic its third consecutive loss.

Vernon Maxwell had 18 points to lead the Magic, which is 1-3 on a five-game trip that ends Monday against the Lakers.

Philadelphia 112, Golden State 84--Allen Iverson made six of his first eight shots and scored 15 of his 28 points in the first quarter as the 76ers dealt the Warriors their 10th consecutive loss.

The 28-point margin of victory was the 76ers’ largest of the season.

The Warriors lost for the 13th time in 15 games, dropped to 2-19 on the road and are 0-8 in 1998.